Cavs lock up recruit
Meyinsse reportedly commits to UVa
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
May 13, 2006

The University of Virginia men's basketball team added another big body on Friday.
UVa reportedly received a verbal commitment from Jerome Meyinsse, a 6-foot-9 post player from McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, La.

Meyinsse will be a part of the incoming 2006 class, joining Jamil Tucker, Will Harris, Ryan Pettinella (a transfer) and Andy Burns (a walk-on).

Meyinsse is not ranked by any of the recruiting services. The fact that he didn't play a lot of AAU ball apparently led to his flying beneath the radar, enabling Dave Leitao and his staff to swoop in at the last second.

Meyinsse, who also received interest from Notre Dame, arrived in Charlottesville for his official visit on Tuesday before returning home to Baton Rouge on Friday.

"I pretty much made my decision before I left," Meyinsse told TheSabre.com. "It has a beautiful campus and I liked the coaches. ? I had a lot of [scholarship offers], but I was waiting to get one I wanted."

Meyinsse told The Sabre that he plans to sign his letter of intent during a press conference at his school on Monday.

As a senior, Meyinsse averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in leading McKinley to a 7-4A championship.

The son of two college professors, he is said to be a bright student, reportedly scoring a 32 on the ACT.

Virginia has one scholarship remaining for 2006.

This commitment comes on the heels of the announcement that Solomon Tat, a Nigeria-born recruit from Stockbridge, Ga., likely will not be able to enroll at UVa until January due to problems with his visa.

 

A new season begins today
UVa men look to build on 13-0 regular season
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
May 13, 2006

In 1991, the UNLV men's basketball team went undefeated in the regular season but was shocked by Duke in the Final Four. In 2001, the Seattle Mariners tied a Major League record by winning 116 games but were bounced by the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. In 2005, the Indianapolis Colts went 15-1 before losing in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to Pittsburgh.
This season, the University of Virginia men's lacrosse team has had the most successful season in school history. UVa (13-0) is the only undefeated team in Division I. The Cavaliers, the nation's highest scoring team, have obliterated everyone in their path.

But today the real season begins when they play host to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Klockner Stadium.

Virginia players know that nobody will appreciate their regular-season exploits if they don't go on win the national title. Like the Runnin' Rebels, Mariners and Colts, the Cavaliers' achievements would become mere footnotes in the annals of sports history.

"This is what you're known for," said Virginia senior Matt Poskay, referring to the postseason. "You're not known for being the 2006 team that went undefeated in the regular season.

"I think from now on is what the public and a lot of people remember you for. Right now there are 16 teams that are undefeated. Everyone is 0-0. After this week there will be eight. That's how it goes."

Notre Dame (10-4), ranked 15th in the latest coaches' poll, finished its regular season on a strong note, winning three straight over Lehigh, Ohio State and Quinnipiac.

The Fighting Irish are coached by Kevin Corrigan, a Virginia graduate who played on three NCAA Tournament teams from 1979-81. Corrigan's father, Gene, the former ACC commissioner, coached Virginia from 1959 to 1967.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia said he's been impressed with what he has seen out of Notre Dame on video.

"They have nice balance and good experience all over the field," Starsia said. "They have a couple of really outstanding players, especially their two attackmen. They're a very good lacrosse team."

Virginia, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, last faced Notre Dame in a 2003 regular season game that the Cavs won, 14-8. Senior Matt Ward recalled the contest well.

"They're very skilled," Ward said. "Their attackmen are crafty. I remember them throwing a lot of behind-the-back passes in the crease, which you don't see from a lot of teams.

"They certainly have skilled players and are athletic. They have a great goalie. We're going to have to come out and play well."

Notre Dame, on the other hand, will probably need to play its best game of the season. Like most people in the lacrosse world, Corrigan has been taken aback by the ease with which Virginia has beaten its opponents.

"I think they've had as dominating of a regular season as I can remember anyone ever having," Corrigan said.

Will Corrigan's players feel intimidated when they step on the Klockner Stadium field?

"I think it's either intimidating or liberating," said Corrigan with a laugh, "because you have nothing to lose.

"No one is expecting us to do anything. I think they're a great team and have had a great season, but I think anyone out there can be beaten on a given day. We're preparing to do our part for that."

Corrigan said there isn't any one aspect of the matchup that concerns him.

"Everything concerns me," he said. "They're a team that doesn't have many holes and is very solid. They face off well. They're good in the goal. They have the things that you need to be successful."

Now that their season comes down to single-elimination games, Ward admitted that Virginia players are feeling pressure. But Ward said that's a good thing.

"We know we'll be playing our best games when the pressure is on," he said. "That's generally something that a team that has championship aspirations needs to embody."

Virginia is taking nothing for granted.

"We lose and we're going home," Poskay said, "and that's not what we want right now."

GROUND BALLS: This is the sixth all-time meeting between Virginia and Notre Dame. Virginia has won four out of the last five games, including two NCAA Tournament victories in 1993 and '94. ? Ward will be playing with a small cast underneath his glove to protect the hairline fracture in his right hand that he sustained against Maryland. "He's practiced the last couple of days," Starsia said. "He's definitely going to give it a try. The question of how much [he'll play] and how effective he'll be will ultimately be determined." ? Corrigan on returning to Charlottesville: "It's always a great thing to come back and play in Virginia. I grew up in Charlottesville and have always been a fan of Virginia. It's always special." ? The game should be a nice respite for Virginia players who have been taking exams all week. "We've kind of had guys worrying about that a little bit," Starsia said, "but our guys have been very attentive in practice. We've had good energy and good enthusiasm."

 

So much for No. 1
Doolittle silences top-ranked Tar Heels
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
May 13, 2006

Virginia did something on Friday night that no other team has been able to do all season - beat North Carolina pitcher Andrew Miller.
With a capacity crowd on hand at Davenport Field, Virginia scratched and clawed its way to a 4-1 win over one of the toughest pitchers in college baseball.

Miller, who entered the game undefeated and possibly on his way to becoming the first pitcher taken in this summer's amateur draft, was chased from the game in the seventh inning after allowing seven hits and three walks and hitting three batters.

The win left Virginia and UNC with identical 40-10 records overall. The Tar Heels, who are 18-7 in the ACC, are still clinging to a one-game lead over the Cavaliers (17-8 ACC) for first place in the Coastal Division.

"I felt that it was very important that we came out and came on the attack against Andrew Miller," said Virginia coach Brian O'Connor. "Our guys didn't wait to get into hitters' counts. We came out and we were swinging early and I think it worked to our advantage."

Virginia's first hit of the game - a double to right by Brandon Marsh - did not produce a run, but it sent a message to Miller (10-1).

"I thought it just told Miller that we were going to battle the whole game," Marsh said. "I just really think it set a tone that how, even though with his reputation, we weren't just going lay down for him. We were going to battle the whole game - from the very beginning to the very end."

O'Connor agreed.

"It set the tone against a guy like Andrew Miller that we were here to fight and play," O'Connor said. "That's what your great players do. They step up when you need them to. It also set the tone for the crowd. It got the crowd excited right away."

The stadium-record crowd of 2,588 had ample reason to cheer in the second.

With runners at first and second, the lead runner, Tom Hagan, started a double steal. The decision turned into the game's first run after UNC catcher Benji Johnson threw a strike into left field.

North Carolina's defense cost Miller another unearned run in the fourth. With runners at first and second, Marsh hit what should have been an inning-ending double play. Tim Henry, who was at first, went hard into second base and hurried UNC second baseman Bryan Steed's toss to first.

The throw, which bounced in the dirt, skipped away from first baseman Chad Flack and Virginia catcher Beau Seabury promptly scampered home from third.

"We preach to our guys all the time about going hard for 90 feet," O'Connor said of Henry's hustle. "That's a great example of how it pays off. The second baseman was in the base line and he had to rush his throw."

With Virginia's starting pitcher Sean Doolittle on cruise control, the Cavaliers kept the 2-0 lead until the bottom of the seventh.

Marsh, who went 2 for 4, led off the frame with a single then promptly stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, freshman David Adams drove Marsh in with a double off UNC reliever Matt Danford.

After Danford struck out Brandon Guyer, UNC elected to intentionally walk Hagan. The move proved costly as Patrick Wingfield, who entered earlier in the game as a pinch runner for third baseman Jeremy Farrell, delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield.

"That was a clutch hit," O'Connor said. "That gives you some breathing room."

UNC, which had not been shut out all season, scored its lone run with two outs in the ninth.

Doolittle (9-1) allowed just four hits and a walk in 6.2 innings, while striking out five. The sophomore southpaw dropped his ERA to 1.67.

"He made some key, clutch pitches," O'Connor said. "Typically, he pitches mostly with his fastball and he threw a lot of off-speed stuff today and mixed and matched really well."

O'Connor said the story of the game was the flawless defense the Cavaliers played, including a number of dazzling plays by shortstop Greg Miclat, a North Carolina native.

"I told the team after the ball game that what won that ball game was that final column on the scoreboard - the errors," O'Connor said. "They had two and we didn't have any."

Virginia and UNC will play the second game of the three-game series today at 1 p.m. at Davenport Field.

EXTRA BASES: Doolittle threw 107 pitches, 67 of which were strikes. Miller threw 112 pitches and 70 went for strikes. ? Virginia will start freshman Jacob Thompson on the mound today. UNC will counter with Robert Woodard. ? UNC had two errors in the game, both while Miller was in the game. Thanks to both, two of three runs allowed by Miller were unearned. ? Casey Lambert pitched to only two batters, and, even though one batter singled home UNC's only run, the junior closer recorded his eighth save of the season. ? Virginia stole four bases in the contest. ?

A free clinic for children will be offered after the conclusion of today's game by the Virginia baseball team. Those who are interested need only to bring their gloves to participate.

 

Doolittle & Co. shut down Heels
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
May 13, 2006

When Brian O'Connor talks about pitcher Sean Doolittle's toughness, an instant grin lights up the room.
A military brat whose family was almost constantly on the move, the Virginia southpaw was forced to harden his personality in order to survive. The fact that he was a product of a rough New Jersey environment didn't hurt either.

Physically gifted with a wicked fastball and other assorted pitches, Friday night's showdown with North Carolina required more. Doolittle, affectionately tagged "Doc" by pitching coach Karl Kuhn, had to summon up all his mental toughness to derail the visiting Tar Heels.

Cavs hold the better hand

Billed as the "Battle of the Aces," pitting the Cavalier sophomore against UNC's nearly untouchable Andrew Miller, Doolittle and his supporting cast of reliever Michael Schwimer and closer Casey Lambert silenced Carolina's bats for the most part in an inspiring 4-1 UVa win that drew the Wahoos within a game of the Coastal Division-leading Heels in front of a Davenport Field-record crowd (2,588).

For the record, Doolittle scattered four hits over 6.2 innings, struck out five and walked only one without surrendering a run before a high pitch count (107) forced him to turn things over to Schwimer.

The win boosted the Good Doctor's record to 9-1 this season, but, more importantly, it set the stage for Virginia to take an all-important series from Carolina.

Playing big in big games

Certainly the fact that the Tar Heels, ranked No. 1 nationally in one poll (No. 2 in a couple of others), served as an incentive for the Cavs to get juiced up for this three-game set, which resumes today at 1 p.m. That Miller is considered perhaps the best collegiate pitcher in the nation only added spice to the matchup.

"You try to think about it like it's another ACC weekend and that's how we tried to prepare for it," said Doolittle, who owns a 1.67 ERA this season. "But when the lights came on and we're playing the No. 1 team in the country, against arguably the No. 1 pitcher in some people's minds, that gives you that extra something inside that makes you want to go after them, and we did tonight."

UVa's pitching threesome nearly hurled the first shutout against Carolina (40-10) this season, didn't allow the Tar Heels more than one baserunner until the eighth inning and didn't surrender an extra-base hit or a run until the ninth inning.

Mixing it up

But that's what O'Connor expects from his pitching staff, which collectively owns the best ERA in the nation (2.53). That's one reason Virginia is also 40-10 and has remained red-hot, even after a 10-day exam layoff.

The down time certainly didn't have a negative effect on Doolittle, who typically relies on his fastball but threw a lot of off-speed stuff at the Heels and mixed and matched to keep the visitors off-balance.

"I felt like I was throwing pretty good velocity-wise, but I wasn't getting ahead of my fastball as well as I wanted to," said Doolittle, who has 27 strikeouts in his last three starts. "I had command of my slider tonight, and Coach Kuhn did a really good job of helping me use that to keep them off-balance.

"I was throwing 1-0 sliders to even the count at 1-1 and I felt the off-speed pitches helped keep them off balance."

Virginia's ace and his pitching mates were spectacular on this night against an aggressive, good-hitting Carolina team. Even the Tar Heels had to be impressed.

"Doolittle throws strikes," said Carolina first baseman Chad Flack, who went 0 for 4 on the night. "And when he's behind in the count he can throw his curveball for a strike. They threw a great game, and we have to give them their props."

The three Wahoo hurlers combined to give up nine hits, but handcuffed the heart of the Tar Heel lineup as UNC's Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters went a combined 1 for 12 on the night.

"Doolittle's good," said UNC coach Mike Fox. "I mean he's good. He just beat us. He's got a good fastball, a great breaking ball and he throws it for strikes. He's a competitor."

And that goes back to what makes O'Connor smile.

"What a competitor," said the UVa coach. "As a Friday night starter for us this kid has like a 1.60 ERA and that's incredible. That's what makes him, his competitiveness and his toughness. Maybe it's that Jersey upbringing."

Doolittle just smiles and shrugs at the suggestion, then talks about how it's all about just rising up to the occasion to help his team.

That's the kind of guts it takes to grind out a win like this one, and that's what makes the Good Doctor oh so good.

 

Cavs to be heard on FM dial locally
By By Doug Doughty
981-3129

In keeping with a growing trend in the coverage of college athletic programs, Virginia has ended its nine-year association with WFIR-AM in Roanoke and jumped to the FM dial.

Starting in the fall, Bob-FM will serve as the Roanoke and Lynchburg home for UVa football games, men's basketball games and coaches' radio shows.

UVa sporting events will be broadcast simultaneously on WZZI (101.5 FM) in Vinton and WZZU (97.9) in Lynchburg.

Previously, UVa had been carried by WLNI (105.9 FM) in Lynchburg, but WLNI will be joining the Tech network.

All three stations are owned by Centennial Broadcasting.

"Years ago, that couldn't happen because you could only own one radio station," said Harry Williams, market manager for Centennial Broadcasting. "Since radio got semi-degulated in the mid-1990s and you could own up to seven stations, it's much more common to see this.

"I'm originally from Alabama and I know in Birmingham, in the past if not now, the same company had both Alabama and Auburn in football and basketball. The listeners just want to listen to their favorite team on the radio."

The FM stations will have a wider range and a clear signal. From 1985 to 1997, UVa was on WROV-AM, which had a 1,000-watt signal. WFIR had 5,000 watts but did not carry much past Roanoke County at night.

At least one of the Bob-FM stations should be audible in Lexington, Williams said.

Johnson won't be back

Virginia football coach Al Groh, featured speaker Wednesday night at a Virginia Athletics Foundation event in Roanoke, said that defensive lineman Chris Johnson will not be rejoining the team for the upcoming season.

Johnson, one of five UVa players placed on one-year academic probation following the spring of 2005, was under the impression that his scholarship would be renewed if he regained his eligibility. Groh said that Johnson was welcome to rejoin the team as a walk-on, at which point he would have a chance to earn a scholarship.

Johnson and his mother recently voiced their displeasure in a meeting with Groh, at which point there was a mutual parting of company.

Of the five players who were suspended, the most likely to return is former SuperPrep All-America defensive back Philip Brown, who worked in Charlottesville during the first semester and has attended class at Piedmont Virginia Community College this spring. Groh said strength coach Evan Marcus has provided Brown with workouts that he is following on his own.

Still recruiting

Calvin Baker, the leading scorer for a William and Mary team that finished 8-20, has indicated that Virginia is among the schools that he will consider now that he has decided to transfer. Baker, a 6-foot-2 "lead" guard from Woodside High School in Virginia Beach, averaged 11.6 points and also had a team-high 100 assists. He was 43-of-156 (27.6 percent) on 3-pointers.

Virginia, which has two scholarships available, has played host the last two days to Jerome Meyinsse, an unsigned 6-9 post player from McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, La.

Meyinsse, a second-team all-state selection with a 4.0 grade-point average, is the son of two professors at Southern University-Baton Rouge.

The spring signing period ends Wednesday. Virginia has a commitment from 6-4 Solomon Tat, a Nigerian who attends high school in Stockbridge, Ga., but Tat has visa issues that are unlikely to be resolved by next week. Tat could still enroll at Virginia without signing a letter-of-intent.

Stars on horizon

Mark Guilbeau, named ACC coach of the year after leading the Virginia women's tennis team into the top 25, has signed seven-time national junior champion Jennifer Stevens from Miami.

"She has been one of the very strongest junior tennis players in the United States throughout her entire career," said Guilbeau, whose Cavaliers will meet Alabama today in Durham, N.C., in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

Another Guilbeau recruit, Kristen McVitty from Woodland Hills, Calif., is ranked No. 1 in the United States Tennis Association under-18 rankings.
 

Got game? Take your pick
Baseball, tennis, lacrosse are scheduled for U.Va.'s campus over the weekend
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER May 12, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Logistical challenges abound for his department, but the University of Virginia's Craig Littlepage isn't complaining.

"It's the kind of weekend any athletic director would love to have," Littlepage said.

From a crucial ACC baseball series to NCAA tournament games and matches in men's tennis, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse, fans in this city will have much from which to choose over the next three days.

Such a weekend is unprecedented in Littlepage's nearly five years as Virginia's AD, but athletic success is nothing new for the school, especially in the spring.

U.Va. teams that will compete at the NCAA level this spring include men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men's tennis, women's golf, women's tennis and, almost certainly, baseball.

Several of those teams will be showcased this weekend in Charlottesville. The festivities start tonight at Davenport Field, where Virginia, ranked No. 13 by Baseball America, meets No. 2 North Carolina in the first game of a series that may determine the ACC's Coastal Division winner.

Tomorrow brings two first-round matches in the NCAA men's tennis tournament, the second game of the Virginia-UNC baseball series and top-seeded U.Va.'s first-round game in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament.

Sunday's schedule is lighter, but just barely. It begins with NCAA men's tennis at noon. An hour later, the Tar Heels and the Wahoos get under way at Davenport Field and, next door at Klockner Stadium, the second-seeded U.Va. women's lacrosse team opens play in the NCAA tournament.

Littlepage advised fans to arrive early, noting that "there's going to be congestion, and there's going to be a lot of traffic."

The parking lots around University Hall will be open all weekend. Another option is the nearby Emmet/Ivy parking garage.

 

No firm link in test 2 of DNA
One player could not be fully ruled out as a suspect, but results fall short of certain proof, defense attorneys say
Jim Nesbitt, Benjamin Niolet and Joseph Neff, Staff Writers

RALEIGH - A second round of DNA tests shows no decisive match between the escort service dancer who says she was raped by three Duke University lacrosse players and any member of the squad, defense attorneys said Friday night.
However, the results show that genetic material found on a fake fingernail that the dancer says was ripped from her hand during the attack are consistent with the DNA of one unindicted player, whom defense lawyers declined to name. That means the player could not absolutely be eliminated as a suspect, defense attorneys said, but is a finding that falls short of ironclad proof.

"There is no conclusive match ... that ties any of these young men to this woman who has made these false accusations," said defense attorney Joseph B. Cheshire V, who represents Duke lacrosse co-captain David Evans, who has not been charged in the case. "There is no conclusive match of DNA."

Evans is one of three team captains who rented the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where the dancer said the attack took place during a March 13 team party.

This latest report could factor into a grand jury hearing Monday, when Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong is expected to seek an indictment against a third player in the high-profile case.

At a hastily called news conference after Nifong's late afternoon release of the latest DNA test, defense attorneys also said further genetic evidence "from a single male source" was found on a vaginal swab taken from the dancer. That man, whom the attorneys declined to identify, was not a Duke lacrosse player or student.

"Yes, this lady had sex ... but she did not have sex with any Duke lacrosse player," said Cheshire, who also refused to release copies of the latest DNA report.

Monday's hearing will come nearly a month after a grand jury indicted two lacrosse players on first-degree rape, sexual assault and kidnapping charges. The accused are Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J.

Wade Smith, Finnerty's attorney, said the latest tests came up as empty-handed as a first round of DNA tests conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation lab in Raleigh and released to Nifong's office April 10. Smith said there is "not a smattering, not a spider web of evidence" linking DNA taken from the dancer and his client or Seligmann.

Cheshire accused the District Attorney's Office of leaking the latest results to reporters several days before disclosing them to defense attorneys. Those leaks, he said, created a false impression that the latest results, from tests conducted by a private lab in Alamance County, provided ironclad genetic proof of a link between the dancer and a third player.

Instead, said Cheshire, the genetic material from the fake fingernail, one of several thrown into a trash can in a bathroom shared by two players, could have come from Q-tips, tissues or other trash piled on top.

Cheshire also said there is "absolutely no scientific or genetic evidence that any rape or assault occurred on this false accuser."

Nifong was out of town and could not be reached for comment late Friday on the statements Cheshire and Smith made. Earlier in the day, Nifong said he picked up the complete report on the latest DNA tests Friday afternoon from a private lab that has more sophisticated testing capabilities than the SBI lab, where DNA evidence usually sent.

This second round of DNA testing was ordered on evidence gathered from the Buchanan Boulevard house. A rape kit was also taken from the woman who made the report, and DNA samples and other identifying information were taken from 46 members of the lacrosse team.

Initially, evidence gathered from the accuser, the suspects and the house were tested at the SBI lab in Raleigh and released to Nifong. According to defense attorneys, those tests showed no DNA was found in or on the woman. But Nifong said he would proceed with the case.

A week later, Finnerty and Seligmann were arrested.